Alton city sweeper struck

Alton Public Works employees spread oil-dry to absorb gallons of hydraulic fluid leaking Wednesday from the 2014 Elfgen street sweeper that was struck by a truck hauling a small tractor while it was sweeping in the 800 block of Washington Avenue. The truck and trailer, from GLC on Seminary Street in Alton, left the scene but was followed by another city vehicle until police could stop it on the Crpl. Chris Belchik Memorial Expressway, just north of Illinois Route 143. The sweeper was struck in the most sensitive and expensive part of the vehicle, destroying hydraulic operations. Fred’s Towing in Alton had to haul the sweeper away, and the driver was not injured.

ALTON — A commercial truck pulling a flatbed trailer ran into one of Alton’s two street sweepers Wednesday morning on Washington Avenue, inflicting damages that may take a month to repair.

“The truck was carrying a load, the road narrowed and there was parking on both sides,” Alton Public Works Director Bob Barnhart said of factors in the 800 block of Washington Avenue that might have caused an Alton demolition contractor’s truck to hit the street sweeper.

The driver of the street sweeper, sitting inside an enclosed cab, was uninjured, Barnhart said.

The 2014 Elfgen model sweeper, the department’s newer of two units, was cleaning the street alongside the curb when the oncoming truck hit the city vehicle on its left, driver’s side. “It damaged one of the brooms outside and there was hydraulic damage,” Barnhart said.

The truck’s flatbed trailer was carrying a small tractor. The driver, then, allegedly drove off with a city truck following behind. Alton police shortly thereafter stopped the vehicle on Cpl. Chris Belchik Memorial Expressway, just north of Illinois Route 143 (River Heritage Parkway/Berm Highway).

Barnhart said the city will have to take the sweeper to St. Louis for repairs, which could take a month. Fortunately, the department has kept its older model in good repair to serve as a backup, he said.

Alton Public Works employees spread oil-dry to absorb gallons of hydraulic fluid leaking Wednesday from the 2014 Elfgen street sweeper that was struck by a truck hauling a small tractor while it was sweeping in the 800 block of Washington Avenue. The truck and trailer, from GLC on Seminary Street in Alton, left the scene but was followed by another city vehicle until police could stop it on the Crpl. Chris Belchik Memorial Expressway, just north of Illinois Route 143. The sweeper was struck in the most sensitive and expensive part of the vehicle, destroying hydraulic operations. Fred’s Towing in Alton had to haul the sweeper away, and the driver was not injured.

http://thetelegraph.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_AltonSweeperHit.jpgAlton Public Works employees spread oil-dry to absorb gallons of hydraulic fluid leaking Wednesday from the 2014 Elfgen street sweeper that was struck by a truck hauling a small tractor while it was sweeping in the 800 block of Washington Avenue. The truck and trailer, from GLC on Seminary Street in Alton, left the scene but was followed by another city vehicle until police could stop it on the Crpl. Chris Belchik Memorial Expressway, just north of Illinois Route 143. The sweeper was struck in the most sensitive and expensive part of the vehicle, destroying hydraulic operations. Fred’s Towing in Alton had to haul the sweeper away, and the driver was not injured.